Rasmus Højgaard was made to work hard as he earned a one-shot lead with 18 holes remaining at the Danish Golf Championship. The Dane began the day two shots clear of his playing partner Marco Penge, however, the Englishman’s early charge saw him climb to the summit.
Højgaard bounced back with a birdie at the eighth, but when Penge dropped a shot at the 11th to draw level and he coolly rolled in a birdie at the 17th, the home favourite led by one. The 24-year-old got out of position with his tee-shot at the last, but he came up with a clutch par save to reach the clubhouse at 13 under, one ahead of Penge.
When asked if his heart was pumping when putting at the last, he said: “It was but it was dead quiet, so I was looking forward to seeing what the reaction was going to be like. It’s going to be an interesting day tomorrow. “Hundred per cent (the aim was to be patient). The wind was tricky out there, it was gusty, it was changing directions. So yeah, the patience got tested a lot today.
“It was great, I really enjoyed it, hopefully I can bring some tears out there tomorrow. This is our fifth Major so it would be cool if I could stand there with a trophy tomorrow. “It’s a part of it. If I want to go out and play well tomorrow, I have to be able to handle the situation well. I’m looking forward to it. I know it’s not going to be totally enjoyable, but I’m looking forward to it.”
Højgaard saw his lead get trimmed to one when he found water with his approach at the second to record a bogey. Penge then soon climbed to the summit on his own when he rolled in birdie putts at the fifth and sixth to reach 12 under. Højgaard returned to that mark with a birdie at the eighth, but his English rival followed suit at the same hole to remain one ahead as they reached the turn.
However, Penge came unstuck at the 11th when he missed a par putt from eight feet to slip back to 12 under to share the lead with Højgaard. The Dane jumped ahead with a crucial birdie at the 17th from 12 feet and somehow saved par at the last despite needing to chip on to the 17th fairway after an errant tee shot.
Penge had a 12 foot putt to join Højgaard at 13 under, but he missed his birdie effort to begin Sunday’s final round one shot off the lead. Englishman Ben Schmidt equalled the course record to shoot up the leaderboard in solo third at nine under.
The 23-year-old went on birdie blitz on the front nine with four in a row from the third before adding another at the eighth to reach the turn in 30. He was on course record watch with further gains at the 13th and 16th, but dropped his only shot at the 17th. However, he responded with a closing birdie to sign for a 64.
Niklas Norgaard, who hails from Copenhagen, sits one shot back in a share of fourth alongside Italy’s Gregorio De Leo, American Johannes Veerman and Sweden’s Mikael Lindberg. Dane Lucas Bjerregaard was joined by Norway’s Mats Ege, who is playing on an invite, at seven under. Lindberg hit the second hole-in-one of the week when he used a 52 degree wedge at the 147-yard second to follow in Gregorio De Leo’s effort at the fifth on Friday. It was the 16th ace of the 2025 DP World Tour campaign.
A moving day 76 dropped Conor Purcell back to a tie for 52nd at +2 dor the championship.
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